David Latourrette

The Father of Jean Latourrette (ca. 1651 - July 1726) was David, not Henri.

Introduction

The following is a summary of what the author has been able to gather from several sources of the history of Jean Latourrette's father David in Osse, Bearn (now Osse-en-Aspe, France).

It is amazing that the hoaxes from the 19th century about Jean Latourrette (b. 1651 or 1652 at Osse, Bearn and d. July 1726 at Fresh Kills, Staten Island) continue to result in his father being identified as a Henri, rather than David (Osse, Bearn ca 1625-1697). In postings on http://genforum.genealogy.com/latourette/ , Mr. Robert Hoadley Latourette and I have completely demolished the hoax that Jean was a count and that his father was named Henri. See:

Also, these tales and hoaxes are shown to be completely false on this webpage under "Tales, Fables and Hoaxes" where some of these articles are updated with more corrections of misrepresentations of facts and the creation of non-existing facts (out-right lies), and other articles have been added.

Yet, I continue to receive genealogical charts from American descendants of Jean Latourrette (original spelling) which lists, generally in a vague fashion as in the hoaxes that his father was Henri.

My recent visit to Osse (now Osse-en-Aspe) in October of 2010 with my son Marc invoked much laughter (and disbelief) from our friends in the Aspe Valley in which Osse is located when I told them that there were still American descendants of Jean Latourrette, particularly from his son Henry (born 1708) living in Oregon, who believe his father was a Henri, he was a count and that the Latourrettes originally came from Italy. To make my point real, they quickly pointed out that during a visit from an American Latourette from the East Coast in the spring of 2010, he had said that they came from Italy and was quickly corrected.

I am also amazed that the notion of Jean's father was a Henri comes from people who have purchased my monograph Jean Latourrette and Pierre Peiret: Huguenot Refugees, Their Roots in Osse, Bearn. Although I clearly trace Jean's origin in the monograph (Chapter 1) to David and Magdeleine Latourrette (b. ca 1630- d. 1696)and mention Jean's siblings, Jacob (b. ca 1650- d. 1711) and Marie (b. ca 1661- d.1731), they still have Henri as Jean's father. Apparently, they didn't even look at the pictures of David's signature in the monograph on pages 46a and 46b from 1660, December 2, 1668, May 29, 1677 and July 22, 1694.(See on this sit "Signatures of Latourrettes")

The History of David Latourrette of Osse: Church Elder, Notaire and Abbe Laique d'Osse

Let us look at what very scholarly French genealogists, who are related to the Latourrettes of Osse-en-Aspe, say about the genealogy of Jean
Latourrette's family. I have added insights about David from Alfred Cadier's book and a detailed examination of the Registers of the Protestant temple
of Osse for 1665-1685, as well as a number of other sources. (See citations below.)

David Latourrette was born in Osse about 1625. Osse legend suggests David was born in the Latourrette-Pon house, built around 1616, which is on the
west side of the village near a bridge which crosses the Larricq, a stream that flows southeast through Osse to the Aspe River. The original
Latourrette house in Osse, at one time referred to as the Latourrette-Casamayou house, appears to date back to around 1569 when Osse was destroyed and
rebuilt. The house was completely rebuilt around 1880 on the original foundation containing graves from the period after 1685 when Protestants were
forced to bury their dead under houses and barns. For descendants in America of Jean Latourrette (abt. 1651-52, Osse- July 1726 Fresh Kills, Staten
Island) who go to Osse, ask for the Maison Mayerau, which is what the villagers now call the maison because the house passed to an older sister of a
Latourrette-Casamayou who married a Mayerau. The Mayerau house was sold to an English couple around 2002-3 who planned to come to Osse for vacations.
As of March 24, 2011, the house was for sale at 265,000 Euros or approximately $371,000 at current exchange rates. It is a very attractive house, which
can be found on this webpage in the section labeled "Tour of Osse," along with the Latourrette-Pon house.

David, who died in Osse in 1697 at about age 72, married his wife Magdeleine about 1648. His spouse, born about 1630, died a year earlier in 1696.
David is mentioned frequently by Alfred Cadier in his history of Protestantism in Osse. (Le Béarn Protestant, 2003, a new edition of histoire de l'église réformée de la vallée d'Aspe, 1892.) David's name also appears frequently in the Registers
of the Protestant Consistory of Osse, 1665-1685 (available at the Center for the Study of Bearnaise Protestantism at Pau University, Pau, France).

David and Magdeleine had at least three children :

Jacob
(1650-1711) married in 1674 Catherine Salenave (born 1655). Jacob remained in Osse after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 and was an
attorney or « avocat » (advocate) appearing before the King's regional court, referred to as the Parliament of Pau. The Parliament consisted
of the King's representatives, not elected representatives of the people. Contrary to the 20th century count hoax circulated by Oregon Latourrette
descendants and addressed in a posting noted above, Jacob was not the « president » of the King's court, but an « avocat » who
frequently defended the interests of Protestants before the court. See

This posting is repeated on this webpage in an updated version 'The Blason (Coat of Arms) of Jacob de la Tourette.'

Jacob's lineage represents the main Latourrette branch of the family in Osse in the 18th and 19th centuries, from which several people now living who have contributed to the family's genealogy can be identified : Jean-Luc Bilhou-Nabera of Paris and Osse ; Bernard Cazenave-Latourrette of Pau ; and Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette of Lagrangeville, New York. Also Yves Lafournere of Chateauneuf de Gadagne, France may be related.

Jean
(late 1651 or early 1652 in Osse- July 1726 in Fresh Kills, Staten Island) married Marie Mercereau July 16, 1693 by Pastor Pierre Peiret (Peyret), with whom Jean fled from Osse, in New York at L'Eglise Francaise du St. Esprit or the French Church of the Holy Spirit (Also called The French Church of New York). Marie Mercereau (1670-1733) was from Moize, Saintonge, France. They had eight children : Marie, Jean, Pierre, David, Suzanne, Esther, Henry and James.

Marie
(abt. 1661 - 1731) married Jean Laclede of Bedous (1660-1725) March 5, 1685 (or 1684). See more details below about their family.

It should be recognized that the destruction of the Protestant Temple, named Bethel, and Protestant records, particularly birth, baptism and marriage
entries, at Osse by the representatives of Louis XIV and fires which destroyed records in Osse and Pau leave some voids about the family before 1685,
the time of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.

What follows are some highlights about David who was the most prominent Protestant of his time in Osse, Bearn (now Osse-en-Aspe, France). He was well
educated and came from a lineage that goes back to the first Protestant minister of the Aspe Valley in which Osse is located. Gassiot Latourrette or
Gassioo de La Torreta in Bearnaise (born in Osse, 1535-1540) was appointed Minister of the Word of God for the Aspe Valley at a Synod in 1563, then of
Osse in 1564. Gassiot continued as pastor at Osse until his death on April 8, 1595, having executed his will on March 31, 1595 at the home of his
daughter Marie in Oloron (now Oloron-St. Marie). Note : Gassiot in French is pronounced the same as in the Bearnaise Gassioo because the « t
» is silent. In the French language the Bearnaise La Torreta was converted to Tourr (tower) and ette pronounced as « et » was substituted for the Bearnaise « eta ».

The highlights indicate that David was the leading Protestant in Osse and the Aspe Valley. As notiare he was involved with all business and economic
transactions that required a written contract and a historical record. As Abbe Laique d'Osse, a title held for a renewable term of 16 years, he was the
person who controlled the Maison Forte (not a castle, but a strong house, perhaps built in the 8th century,in the center of the village associated with
the Gayrosse family, a family of nobility, which was basically most of the time an absentee owner in the 14th and 15th centuries).The authority also
included the right to collect taxes to support, initially, the Catholic Church and the local priest. As noted below, this authority was exercised by
David for the Protestants of Osse as the result of the village becoming exclusively Protestant after 1569 when Osse was destroyed and the French King's
soldiers were defeated and driven out of Bearn. A hundred years later, exercising this authority became more complicated and contested for David. In
the interim the Catholic population in Osse had increased to where it was perhaps 40 -50 percent of the population. As Louis XIV pursed his campaign
against the Bearn Protestants after 1668, the local priest with the support of the King's representatives and the Court in Pau (the
Parliament)attempted to gain authority over the funds (or goods given in kind) collected in the 1670s. It would require more research in France, beyond
what is reported in Cadier's history, to describe all of details of the struggle about these funds, but its general nature is clear from the highlights
below. Also, from records of the temple which survived, it is obvious that David was the one person who most frequently guaranteed the debts of the
temple and/or loaned the temple monies as the actions of the King made it more and more difficult for the Protestants of Osse to maintain their
ministry.

How did the family accumulate wealth ? As noted herein, some considerable wealth passed from Pastor Gassiot Latourrette to his daughter Marie at his
death in 1595, enough for her, with her husband, to purchase the title of Abbe Laique d'Osse and the associated property, the Maison Forte. Also, the
family owned a mill along the stream (Larricq) which passed through Osse. A map of Osse in 1837 shows Pierre Casamayou (actually Pierre
Latourrette-Casamayou) as a teacher and the owner of several plots of land, including plots 358-360, where the original post 1659 house (now the Maison
Mayerau) is located. Additional plots, 368- 371 are located nearby with 371 being a mill located further upstream across from the Latourrette-Pon
house. Being the furthest upstream it had the most advantageous location of the three mills on the west side of the village. (It appears that at some
point the family emphasized the Casamayou side of the family because under the Fors de Bearn, a Casamayou became a widow of a Latourrette in the latter
half of the 18th century. This is a complicated issue and it would detract from this presentation to go into the details of the genealogy coming down
from Jacob Latourrette (abt 1650-1711), whose father was David (abt 1625-1697) and whose younger brother was Jean (abt 1651-2 to July 1726). So David
had earnings from a mill, his practice as a notaire, and from the administrative fees associated with being the Abbe Laique d'Osse, collecting taxes
and managing them, as well as considerable property.

Although there is one gap in the lineage from Gassiot Latourrette, the minister of Osse, to David, all genealogists agree that David is a direct
descendant from Gassiot. It should be noted that the first written reference about Gassiot is in the Bearnaise dialect as Gassioo de La Torreta. (Note
: For the mistaken notion of Latourrette originating in Italy, this is not a surname of Italian origin but Bernaise/Spanish and Gassiot is the written
French equivalent of the Bearnaise name Gassioo where in French the name is pronounced with a long o and a silent t. It is noted further that Osse is
only a few miles from the current Spanish border.)

1660 record
shows David is a notaire. A notaire in David's time is not a notary public as in the United States authorized basically to certify signatures. Each
village had only one notaire and there is evidence that small hamlets near Osse were served by David as a notaire for the Valley of the Aspe in which
Osse and several villages and hamlets are located. Notaires were among the few well- educated people who could write and were involved in recording and
certifying all business/trade transactions. Most French Protestants could read, sign their names and calculate but not write very well, especially
because writing paper was extremely expensive. The Protestants emphsized a basic education so they could read the bible. Many Catholics were
illiterate, except for priests and leading families like the Laclede family of Bedous who had a close connection with David and is cited by Cadier as
protective of the French Protestants of Osse. It is noted that an original July 22, 1694 document signed by David Latourrette is in the author's
possession, thanks to a gift by a distant cousin Bernard Cazenave Latourrette of Pau, France. This document involves a property transaction in the
small hamlet of Jouers in the Aspe valley which is southeast of Osse between Bedous and Accous. The document was passed down to Bernard's family in
Accous. The fact that David was still practicing as a notaire in 1694, perhaps under the authority of another person, is very interesting since it
appears Protestants were banned by Louis XIV from holding any titles or positions after 1668 in Bearn.

April 1, 1665 to April 15, 1669
: David is appointed as an ancien (elder) of the Protestant Temple. From the Consistory Registers of Osse (1665-1685) elders and deacons were appointed
to 4 year terms. With this appointment, he is identified in the registers of the Osse Protestant consistory as the notaire and so listed by Cadier in
his history.

September 29, 1666
: Minutes of the meeting decribe a loan taken out by the temple, guaranteed by four elders including David Latourrette.

1665-1669
:During the period of David's term as elder, he is present and signs his name at many meetings including those where sanctions were authorized against
temple members. Also, David agreed to be an arbitrator in disputes among members of the temple. It is clear his advice was sought on many legal matters
both during this tenure as elder and afterwards during the 1670s.

1665
: After the religious war of 1569, there had been a general accommodation between the two religions and a re-emergence of the historic resentment
against the imposition of outside authority in the Aspe Valley as restricting the local authority granted by the Fors de Bearn. The ascent of Louis
XIV, however, encouraged Catholic priests to be more aggressive. In 1665 the Osse priest attempted by a suit, using some previous actions of the
Catholic - controlled Pau Parliament, to interfere with the free selection by villagers of the four Osse jurats (magistrates). Here, we rely on Cadier,
because the consistory records are silent on the issue. The local priest charged that the selection of the jurats had to be determined by the actions
of parliament, which had given a preference to the selection of Catholics; the estate of the Catholic Church was being managed by a Protestant (as Abbe
Laique, David Latourrette). The charge was that since 1650 the jurats had used the estate funds for community and other profane purposes and not for
the Church; and the existing jurats and David Latourrette, notaire, had insulted him and attempted to break the door to the Catholic cemetery. The suit
resulted in favoring the selection of Catholic jurats. The other charges were not considered for the lack of evidence or were dismissed. This section
is largely repeated from Chapter 2 of the author's Jean Latourrette and Pierre Peiret, Huguenot Refugees: Their Roots in Osse, Bearn. Original
source, see Cadier, Le Bearn, pp.175-80.

1666
: It appears that David receives or renews the family interest in the title of Abbe laique d'Osse. This is a title which was originally purchased for a
16 renewable year term by Marie, the daughter of Gassiot Latourrette and her husband Bertrand Davances in 1605. It is an anicent title associated with
the right to collect taxes to support the Catholic Church. The villagers in many small villagers in Bearn did not have the funds to build a church and
support a priest, so a noble would build a church and established the right to tax the villagers to support the church and the local priest. In Osse
this was done by the Seigneur Gayrosse who is shown in a census of 1385 to be holding the title Abbe Laique d'Osse and holding the property called the
Abbaye de Gayrosse, a Maison Forte (strong house,) in Osse. Marie Latourrette and Bertrand Davances purchased the title and property from Pierre
d'Abbadie de Maslacq, whose family had purchased them from the Gayrosse family in 1544. It is said that Marie used the inheritance from her father
Gassiot, who died in 1595, to match an equal ammount from her husband to purchase the property/title. It is further speculated that Marie and Bertrand
Davances did not have any children explaining how eventually the property was eventually passed on to David. (Some of the details presented here have
appeared on the webpage of Ellsworth John La Coste. See

March 18, 1668
:In the Registers it is noted that sieur Latourrette, notaire, stood as a guarantor of a debt of the temple.

July 8, 1668
: The renewal of the contract between the Protestant temple and Pastor Jean-Jacques Mauzy is signed by David Latourrette, notaire.

1668
: After Louis XIV assumed the throne in 1662 he began a long, systematic process of intimidation, harassment, persecution and brutal suppression of
French Protestants ending in the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in October of 1685. Over time, this action was directed to Protestants in particular
locations, as well as generally across the kingdom. During this process Protestants were restricted from holding licenses, military and navel offices,
and employment at court, and practicing as notaires, advocates, physicians, surgeons, midwives, apothecaries, printers, booksellers as well as other
professions and crafts. In other words, Louis XIV's intent was to deny Protestants any means to gain a living and force them to convert. As describe by
M. Charles Weiss *, Louis XIV selectively identified Protestant groups to attack or to entice them to convert. His attention focused on the relatively
isolated Bearn with an Edict in 1668 which reduced the number of Protestants temples in Bearn from 123 to 20. This action was designed to limit the
number of pastors and create barriers to the practice of the Reformed faith in a province in which about half of the population was Protestant. (In the
1660s, it is estimated there were 30,000 Protestants in Bearn.) The edict guaranteed the remaining 20 temples would be "perpetual and irrevocable," but
that was breached and violated when on February 26, 1685 the Parliament of Navarre in Pau (one of the King's regional courts) recorded an edict
proclaimed by the King's representative Foucault reducing the number of temples to 5, including Osse, and even those were forced to be closed in the
spring of 1685.

In Osse, it appears the restriction on holding positions such as notaire and abbe laique d'Osse is associated with the 1668 Edict, because during his
first tenure as elder (1665-1669) David is referred as notaire in the temple registers. He is not referred to that way in the temple records during his
second term as elder in 1677 -1681. But as noted below, in various other documents and citations, after 1668 David is identified with these titles.
Given the isolation of Osse and the fierce independence of the people, especially of the Protestants, it is likely these restrictions were ignored as
long as possible up to the time of the Revocation in 1685.

* Weiss devotes a chapter to citing all the means by which Louis XIV presecuted Protestants, including the infamous dragooning in Poitou in 1681 and
then Bearn in 1684-85. See Ch 3 (pp. 79-126) of Volume I in his History of the French Protestant Refugees, translated from the French by Henry
William Herbert, 1854.

April 12, 1671
: The apointment of Pastor Josue Medalon with a « precise agreement » was prepared and executed with Medalon on behalf of the elders by David
Latourrette, notaire.

December 1672- March 1673
: Having lost control over the selection of jurats, there was no respite for the consistory. In 1672 a Catholic premier jurat taxed the Protestants to
support the Catholic estate. The consistory (temple) meetings of December 14 and 18, 1672 resulted in actions to block the levy and to seize all the
monies which had been paid. The resulting litigation involved the consistory in heavy expenses to defend itself, but the case was lost. (Cadier, pp.
175-6)

The next action against the consistory was in March of 1673 when the Reformed were deprived of the use of public funds for their school. Two detailed
reports of expenses incurred to fight this litigation were presented at the September 8 meeting, which Cadier quotes at length, noting that this case
illustrates "the simplicity of our mountain people's customs." (Cadier, p. 176)

There had been a long-standing agreement in Osse referred to as the Premice, which was used to provide funds for the needs of both churches. Although
this agreement had been approved by the Count of Toulongeon on February 9, 1675, the local priest contended in the same year that the Premice was not a
separate fund but part of the Catholic estate, and claimed the funds which had been allocated to the consistory. These funds were managed by David
Latourrette, who continued to give funds to the Protestants. This resulted in endless litigation which extended beyond his lifetime and involved
personal claims against him for the funds the priest claimed were due the Catholic Church. (A ruling from Parliament in 1669 prohibited Protestants
from raising funds for the support of their religion. It is obvious the Osse consistory had ignored that ruling, but in the 1670s the parishioners were
having a difficult time making their pledges to the temple because of all the restrictions placed on them.)

1677-1681
: David Latourrette serves as an elder for another 4 year term. His signature during this term on May 29, 1677 is represented in the author's
monograph, along with the signature of Pastor Peiret.(See p. 46b) It is obvious that Peiret was already in Osse before the Synod of June 23, 1677 freed
Pastor Josue Medalon from his charge and entrusted it to Pastor Peiret as a subterfuge to foil Louis XIV's plan that Medalon was to be the last
minister at Osse.

In the temple Registers it appears that David is no longer referred to as notaire. From his study of the Registers, Cadier lists him as Latourrette in
1677 and de Latourrette in 1681. (See Le Bearn, p. 151)

August 1, 1677
: David Latourrette signed a contract, containing reciprocal agreements, on behalf of the elders with Pierre Peiret as pastor. (Note : It is Pastor
Peiret and his family that Jean Latourrette accompanies from Osse in September of 1685 to London and finally New York City in October of 1687.)

April 29, 1679
: David Latourrette on behalf of the elders signed a contract renewing Pastor Peiret's appointment with expanded duties.

July 30, 1679
: At this meeting of the consistory, with David Latourrette present, there is a discussion of the 12 francs pledged to the temple by Jean Latourrette (
deceased, referred to as Jean Tourret). See bequest to the temple by Jean Latourrette in next entry. It is determined that only 5 francs remains to be
paid. The son Pierre agrees to pay it by September 8 and signs the minutes certifying with « certat es » (what is written is guaranteed) as
did his father in earlier entries. The entire minutes have a large X drawn through them and at the bottom of the entry is a note from August 1701 by a
representative of the King that the amount had been paid.

January 15,1683
, Declaration of Louis XIV : Following the declaration of the King, the Osse temple was required to account for all donations to its legacy over the
period June 1662 to 1682.

With this action, Louis XIV confiscated "all estate, buildings and their contents, annuities, pensions and bequests to the poor of the RPR (Preformed
Protestant Religion), and to the consistories for their poor" in favor of the Catholic hospitals.

David Latourrette compiled the list which included bequests to the temple by Eleazar Latourrette in 1664 and Jean Latourrette in 1674. In the author's
interpretation of the temple Registers, Eleazar is David's father who died about 1664 and Jean is his younger brother referred to in the diminutive as
Jean Tourret who died about 1674. (Jean Tourret is clearly Jean Latourrette because he always signs the Registers at meetings he attends as Jean
Latourrette and is referred to as such by two different ministers who wrote the minutes. The two brothers left the same bequest to the temple : 12
francs and grain to the poor.)

The temple Registers from 1665 to 1685 is one of the few documents which survived from 1685. It appears that one of the reasons it survived, perhaps
initally in David's hands, is that a number of the bequests recorded therein, like the one described for Jean Tourret (Jean Latourrette) at the meeting
of July 30, 1679, were used as evidence that the temple gave to the King what was due under the declaration of Janurary 15, 1683. See below the entry
for 1701.

It curious that David is referred to, with this task in 1683, as the notaire of Osse, even though French Protestants were no longer suppose to hold
such posts. Was it out of respect or because there were so few educated and qualified people or, perhaps, both ? (See Cadier, Le Bearn,
pp.180-4.

March 5, 1685 (another source cites March 5, 1684)
: Marie (ca 1661-1731), daughter of David and Magdeleine Latourrette and sister of Jean who comes to America, marries Jean Laclede (Nov. 22, 1660- Jan
18, 1725) of the leading Catholic family of Bedous.

The Laclede family of Bedous (1 km east of Osse) was the most prominent Catholic family of the Aspe Valley. They are known as protectors of the Protestants of Osse. Certainly, this was a strategic marriage for the Latourrette family of Osse before the Revocation.

Marie Latourrette and Jean Laclede have 6 children one of whom is Pierre Laclede (1690-1776). Pierre marries in 1726 Magdeleine d'Espoey d'Arance(1697-Sept 21, 1733). They have a son Pierre de Laclede-Liquest born Bedous Nov 22, 1729 and died on the Mississippi River at the mouth of the Arkansas River, AR,-- various dates given as May 27, June 20 and June 30, 1778.

Pierre Laclede-Liquest was the founder of St. Louis in America in Feb 1764. (He added Liquest to distinguish himself from other Laclede family
members.)

My thanks to Robert Hoadley-Latourette who has tracked the genealogy from this marriage to the founder of St. Louis in America.

April 16, 1685:
Pierre Peiret,the pastor with whom Jean Latourrette left Osse and came to America, recognizing the pressures from the representatives of Louis XIV, makes his last entry in the temple Registers absolving the parishioners of any responsibility for him and stating that all compensation owed him
had been paid.

September 2, 1685:
Report comes from Jean de Tapie, listing all of the "indomitable" Protestants in the Aspe Valley that refuse to convert. The list contains only
residents of Osse and identifies among 20 some Osse villagers, Magdeleine Latourrette as "living notoriously and implicitly out of wedlock" with David,
the abbe laique d'Osse. (This was, of course, a spurious charge by the local priest who drew up the list for Tapie, because they were married by a
Protestant minister, rather than a Catholic priest. It is interesting that the title is still associated with David.) The list also included Pastor
Pierre Peiret's spouse and children, although the children are only listed as 18 months (Pierre junior) and 5 years (Magdeleine).

Between September 2 and 25, 1685:
Pastor Peiret, his spouse Marquerite Latour of Bedous or Osse, their two children Magdeleine (age 5) and Pierre (age 18 months) flee Osse with Jean
Latourrette and possibly other villagers. (Of the villagers only Jean appears to have reached New York in October of 1687 with the Peirets.)

An inquiry and a search warrant was issued against Pastor Peiret in 1685 (French National Archives G7-113) and an arrest warrant on September 25, 1685.
(The arrest warrant was issued after Peiret was not found at Osse when the King's dragoons came to the village as a follow-up to the Tapie list. Note:
These actions are in addition to the house arrest under which he was placed in November of 1684.)

Legend has it that the Protestants of Osse slipped away from the dragoons' excesses before the troops reached the village as they had done in 1569 when
the King's army came to Bearn. The whole population took refuge in mountain barns and in the impenetrable forests until the dragoons were sent to La
Rochelle.

October 18, 1685
: The Revocation of the Edict Nantes was issued by Louis XIV.

1693:
David Latourrette was fined for "abusing" the local priest. It is obvious that David continued to defy the local priest. It appears that David was
under the protection of the Laclede family of Bedous and is cited as frequently attending the Catholic Church in Bedous with them. It is noted that his
daughter had married Jean Laclede in 1685 (or 1684) and by this time there were grandchildren of David.

July 22, 1694:
The document of the sale of a house signed by David Latourrette, dated July 22, 1694 (noted above), was written in two other hands. It was frequently
the case that notaires had assistants prepare documents for them.

1701
: The various claims associated with the list of bequests to the temple drawn up in 1683 are finally settled and signed off by a representative of
Louis XIV. Yves Lafournere has in his possession a document from this period which contains the original hand written list of bequests and many pages
of a legal brief signed by Jacob Latourrette seeking the return of 101 francs which had been lent to the temple by his father David over the years. The
basis of this claim was that these were loan funds, not bequests to the temple, owed to David. This document clearly identifies Jacob as the son of
David, whereas the identification of Jean being a son is based on a large amount of circumstantial evidence.

By 1701
: The title of abbe laique d'Osse is no longer associated with the Latourrette family. See

which describes the personal blason (coat of arms) of Jacob acquired in 1696 or shortly thereafter. An updated version is found on this page in 'Blason
(Coat of Arms) of Jacob de la Tourrette.'

The blason of Jean de Fondeville, the priest at Etsaut, is described in 1701 in this posting and it is noted that he is also the abbe laique d'Osse.

Comment from posting: The fact that the Priest at Etsaut is the abbe laique d'Osse in 1701 begins to answer a question this researcher has had relative to David Latourrette. It is known David was the abbe laique in Osse in the 1660s. However, all titles and positions of authority were taken from the Protestants by decrees from Louis XIV in 1668. Yet, David's wife appears on Tapie's list, created by the local priest, issued on September 2, 1685 as being the spouse of the abbe laique d'Osse. Was the title used just to identify the spouse or was there some indirect pressure being placed on David because he was under the protection of the leading Catholic family, the Lacledes, in Bedous? And, actually, when was he forced to give up the position? It is clear, however, that the title was not passed on to his son Jacob after David's death in 1697. Added note: There is some evidence that in 1682 David may have renewed the title for 16 years as was the custom under the rules of the Fors de Bearn which allowed the title to held for 16 years. Therefore, if the renewal had occurred, it would have expired about the time of David's death in 1697. Associated with it, would be the loss of the rights to the Gayrosse Maison Forte (strong house) in Osse.